Sunny by Colin O'Sullivan

Colin O’Sullivan is an Irish writer who currently resides in Aomori Prefecture in the Tohoku region of Japan. He first came to Japan to teach English but has been living in Japan for more than twenty years. 

Sunny was originally titled The Dark Manual and was published in 2018 in Ireland by Betimes Books. It was also adapted into a television series and was aired on Apple TV+ but cancelled just after one season. As I haven’t had a chance to see the show, I cannot comment or make comparisons to the book.

In the book, Susie Sakamoto is an Irish woman who married a Japanese man named Masahiko. They have an eight-year old son named Zen. Her husband works at a high tech firm called ImaTech, a firm that specializes in robotics. 

Susie’s husband and her son were on their way to Seoul, South Korea where Masa was going to give a talk at a conference. It was Zen’s first ever flight. Unfortunately, due to the trajectory and interference of  a North Korean missile, the plane was sent off course and ended up crashing into the ocean. 

In the Sakamotos home, there is Sunny.  Sunny is a silver, one-meter-tall homebot (Model SH.XL8). Its eyes are two red orbs. At night, if the house is dark, this is all you see: “two red orbs from deep black”. “These are its eyes. Scarlet, but bloodless. It makes them strange. Eyes with no blood, no whites, are strange. No irises, no change, strange”. 

Homebots are the way of the future. Although the robots are not yet sentient, they seem to be on their way and ImaTech is in the lead to make it a reality. However, Susie doesn’t care about Sunny. All it does for her is remind her that her husband and son are no longer with her. 

In her grief, all Susie wants to do is join her husband and son. Sunny is a constant reminder of her husband. It was he who programmed it. Masa programmed it to help Susie around the house. She hates its efficiency. She doesn’t really want to think too much about the robot and its efficiency but lately she cannot help herself from not thinking about it. She wants to turn it off permanently, but doesn’t know how. 

She is alone with Sunny all the time and this makes her angry. She hates being alone and feels great animosity towards the machine. She wonders why her husband programmed it with such an annoying voice and such proper manners. 

To deal with her grief and loneliness, Susie goes to a local bar where she has become friends with a woman named Mixxie. She drowns her sorrows in alcohol and whatever else she can get her hands on just to cope. It isn’t until she hears rumors of something called the “Dark Manual” at the bar which helps her come out of her depression. 

Now with the help of Mixxie and the bar’s owner, they go in search of the “Dark Manual”. But they aren’t the only ones looking for it. When Susie discovers that it was written by her own husband, she makes an even more desperate search for it, believing that it is hidden somewhere in her own house. 

There have been many stories dealing with the concept of humans vs. machines. This is just one in a long line of titles with a similar plot. At times Sunny is reminiscent of Isaac Asimov’s I, Robot and is an excellent cyber-thriller. However, more than half the story focuses on Susie Sakamoto’s grief and anger. 

You almost wish she would end her life just so we could stop feeling her hopelessness and despair. Fortunately, the book comes into its own after Susie becomes determined to find the “Dark Manual” but will she be able to shut down Sunny for good? Will Susie and friends find it before the others? Are the robots on the verge of thinking for themselves? And what will happen to Sunny if Susie does find the “Dark Manual”?.... ~Ernie Hoyt